New York · Nonprofit
PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC
PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC (New York) receives grants from 283 organizations whose IRS filings report $71,346,792 to it, the largest being ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($12,950,000). 152 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 283
- Grants received
- $71M
- Net assets
- $37M
What Pen American Center Inc does
Mission
Pen american center, inc. Is an association of writers and others in the literary community working to defend free expression, advance literature, and foster international literary fellowship.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Free expression programs: pen america's free expression programs defend writers and journalists and protect free expression rights in the united states and around the world. This work includes advocacy in the united states and internationally in defense of free expression; research and reports on topical issues ranging from book bans to online abuse to writers imprisoned around the world; direct support to and campaigns on behalf of writers and journalists facing threats to their free expression.
$10,125,593 spentof which $1,000,565 as grants$413,979 earned by the program60% of program spendingLiterary awards:since 1963, the pen america literary awards have honored many of the most outstanding voices in literature across diverse genres, including fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, biography, children's literature, translation, and drama. With the help of our partners, pen america confers over 20 distinct awards, fellowships, grants, and prizes each year, awarding over $300,000 to writers and translators.
$726,945 spentof which $182,000 as grants$120,161 earned by the program4% of program spendingPen world voices festival: pen world voices is america's premier international literary festival, attracting the best-known writers from across the globe. Since its founding, the festival has presented more than 1,800 writers and artists from 118 countries speaking 56 languages in venues across new york city and los angeles in a four day series of literary events with a human rights focus. The festival was founded by salman rushdie, esther allen and michael roberts in the aftermath of september 11th, 2001, with the aim of broadening channels of dialogue between the united states and the world- a mission that, today, has never been more relevant. (continued on schedule o)the 20th anniversary of the united states leading international literary festival was cancelled two weeks before the festival's scheduled start date. Some festival programs did occur without being named under the festival umbrella. Given the timing of the cancellation significant non-refundable costs were incurred including travel booked and venue rentals.
$685,789 spentof which $90,799 as grants4% of program spendingPublic programs; content and outreach; membership; branches; prison writing; pen america journal; writers fund.
$5,460,247 spentof which $184,002 as grants$147,418 earned by the program32% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,998,574.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $18M to $37M (+99%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 4% · 2018 1% · 2019 3% · 2020 5% · 2021 4% · 2022 1% · 2023 4% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Suzanne Nossel
Chief executive officer
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 47 funders to 121 funders, grant income rose $1.8M → $14M.
33 of 283 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 37% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $6k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Los Angeles Review of Books). These are real filings, and they are not money PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC raised.
From the IRS filings of PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 283 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
41% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 29% · 2019 17% · 2020 12% · 2021 28% · 2022 52% · 2023 16% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
41% of PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
59% of PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $26M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC has grown faster than half of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $355k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$205k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$150k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 21 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Pen America Los Angeles · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC?
- PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC (New York) receives grants from 283 organizations whose IRS filings report $71,346,792 to it, the largest being ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($12,950,000). 152 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC have?
- IRS filings report 283 organizations giving $71,346,792 in grants to PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC, 152 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC?
- ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $12,950,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PEN AMERICAN CENTER INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 283 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing